Information Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said the movement for democracy in this country will not be allowed to be destroyed.
“The conspiracy to obstruct democracy will be foiled,” he said while addressing a public rally at KPZ Ground in Anwara, the other end of the tunnel, after attending the inauguration ceremony of Bangabandhu Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram on Saturday morning.
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Senior party leaders were present on the occasion.
Pointing at the BNP, Hasan said, “You hold a peaceful rally and the administration will cooperate with you. But if there is an attempt to create a disturbance, it will be dealt with strong hands.”
"BNP had sought permission to hold a rally in Dhaka today (Saturday), we have given permission, we could’ve denied it. It would be wrong to think of it as weakness,” the AL leader said.
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“"But when we were in opposition, BNP did not give us permission to hold rallies," he said, adding, "They beat us up and dragged senior politicians like Matia Chowdhury.”
He also said that Awami League is not just a political party: "Awami League is the name of a fire, and our leader Sheikh Hasina, the blood of Bangabandhu, who does not know compromise, does not mean defeat. So there is no point in holding a rally of 30-40 or 50 thousand people in Nayapaltan, where 10-20 thousand people gather even though crazy dances at Gulistan intersection.”
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The 3.2-km-long tunnel road, built at a depth of up to 150 feet bepol the Karnaphuli River in four years and eight months with the help of China at a cost of about Tk 11,000 crore, connects the industrial-rich Anwara Upazila with south Patenga of Chattogram city.
The construction of the tunnel began on February 24, 2019, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the project with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited Bangladesh on October 14, 2016.
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